Kojima Praises Platinum Games, Wants to Collaborate Again

Sunday, February 24th, 2013

Share this page

We are proudly a Play-Asia Partner

SUPPORT OPRAINFALL BY TURNING OFF ADBLOCK

Ads support the website by covering server and domain costs. We're just a group of gamers here, like you, doing what we love to do: playing video games and bringing y'all niche goodness.
So, if you like what we do and want to help us out, make an exception by turning off AdBlock for our website. In return, we promise to keep intrusive ads, such as pop-ups, off oprainfall. Thanks, everyone!

In a recent interview with SPOnG, Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima looks back at his collaboration with Platinum Games, heaping praise upon the studio and musing about the future beyond Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Platinum and Kojima Productions’ brains and muscle collectively create a cutting-edge new game.

Aside from Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, which Mr. Kojima is currently helming, he also has a sequel for Revengeance in mind. And he would like to work with no other developer than Platinum Games.

“Really, Platinum’s team is great at creating action games,” he says. “They do it better than anyone else. I love them personally, as individuals…”

The auteur developer first lauds Platinum’s efforts, in which the team’s experience making similar action games helped greatly to complete the action spinoff. Mr. Kojima confesses that it was difficult to finish Revengeance on his own.

“Honestly, I’ve been making games for over 25 years and the state that this game was in when it went to Platinum… was really a mess! The fact that they were able to pull it off is very impressive.”

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was first unveiled at E3 2009 under the title Metal Gear Solid: Rising, with the slogan “Lightning Bolt Action.” Though the final release does not look any different from its original form, its atmospheric choices prior to Platinum’s intervention say otherwise, as seen in the E3 2010 trailer below:

Production on Rising began to falter late 2010, when the team found itself in development hell. According to Famitsu, the team lacked a common vision of what the game should be.

“We spent a long time within Kojima Productions making the game,” says Kojima Productions producer Yuji Korekado, “and there were some aspects of it that were fun, but by the end of it, all we had was a big team and no really common image shared among everyone in it. We were at a dead end.”

Kojima’s allowance for creative freedom inflated each member’s preconceptions for what Metal Gear should be, aggravating development limbo even further. From this point, the game faced cancellation.

In an unexpected turn, Kojima consulted with Atsushi Inaba of Platinum Games, agreeing to have no involvement with the gameplay and leaving Platinum to—as Kojima insisted—make it however they like. Kojima Productions, however, would retain control over story and cutscene direction. Furthermore, they gave Platinum a strict deadline to complete the troubled game. Fortunately, it was finished on schedule.

Mr. Kojima would later tease about Platinum Games for endeavors where they did not commit themselves with schedules. He says: “Platinum makes excellent games, there’s no arguing about that – but they’re not very good at honoring schedules […] I made it clear that in order to succeed on a worldwide scale, you not only have to make a good product, but you also have to keep a tight schedule.” When they did finish, Kojima would jest that even Mr. Hideki Kamiya would be surprised.

Finally, Mr. Kojima ends with what may be the most powerful saying about this company: He states if their technology is up to par, they can become a “world-class studio”.

“The one thing I think they can still improve on is their technological level. [It] is not quite up to par, so maybe for the next project if we did something with them, we would maybe have them use the FOX engine. Or, perhaps their next generation engine […]”

Hopefully this collaboration between Kojima Productions and Platinum Games may not only lead to growth between these two studios, but also a healthy bond that will last for many years, and lead to many great new games.

Andy was a member at Operation Rainfall since the beginning of its campaigning days. Though something of a troublemaker at the time, he now contributes to Operation Rainfall and shares his love for all things gaming and the visual arts. His favorite games include Xenoblade Chronicles, Kid Icarus Uprising, and No More Heroes. Andy currently holds a Bachelors degree in Cinema, which he uses to pursue filmmaking.

I support this idea and would love to see a Rising 2. Though maybe they could also do a prequel about Gray Fox’s escape post-cyborg ninja-ization? Given what MGS4 revealed about Dr. Clark, it kind of blows that we never got to actually see any of what was going on at that point.

Xx_Kares_xX

So you finished it already? Without spoilers can you give me a simple evaluation of the games plot? I mean, the previews looked odd, and I know that the game is different than the other MGS’s… but what I really mean to ask is, does the plot still feel like Metal Gear even though the gameplay doesn’t?

NinjaApe

That first picture needs to have a caption that says, “Kojima approves.” The expression on his face looks like he’s thinking, “not bad.” lol.

Xx_Kares_xX

The game looked great especially for how it’s branching off so much from the original MGS gameplay style, the fact that Hideo is happy with the project says wonders alone because he is never one to sugarcoat things from what I’ve seen. (Take for example, his opinion of the NES version of the first Metal Gear). This makes me even more excited for when I finally go out and get the game for myself.

Hec4Mets

NIce to see Platinum Games get more praise around the industry as they are becoming my favorite studio in Japan at the moment and I can’t wait for Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 from them! Also would love to see a Rising sequel as well as the game was just pure platinum games action title which I love.

Oblivvvv

will, i think this is going to involve Ground Zero.
2 days ago there was an article in gamespot talking about the risk of the game and one quote might be the lead ( “I’m approaching the project as a creator and prioritizing creativity over sales,” he said” ) and today kojima praise platinum.
it’s just a theory.

Gemnist

I completely support this. This IS Metal Gear, and by what I’ve seen, Platinum did it mighty good with Revengeance. Another Rising would be perfect